Correction: Scenic Hudson Senior Parks Project Manager Joe Kiernan was misidentified in an earlier version of this story.

In the City of Poughkeepsie, waterfront habitat will need to be protected as the area is developed.

In Hyde Park, a barrier is preventing fish passage in the Maritje Kill, a Hudson River tributary.

In Marlborough, fishing and boating access could be improved with the rehabilitation of a large pier.

For a variety of reasons, the Hudson River is in need of help, according to Andrew Peck, freshwater project manager for The Nature Conservancy.

There has been high-profile contamination, such as decades of dumping and subsequent dredging of PCBs. But, other factors impacting the river, its shoreline and the habitats it supports, have been harder to see, Peck said, such as climate change, industrial development and pollution.

“It’s been death by a thousand pin pricks, or bee stings,” he said.

Perhaps it's fitting then that the Hudson River Comprehensive Restoration Plan includes more than 1,800 proposed projects of varying size and cost, in an effort to reverse that trend.

The plan, which was under development for five years, was released recently by The Nature Conservancy on behalf of Partners Restoring the Hudson, a group of more than 30 organizations. The list of partners includes environmental groups, state and federal agencies and academic institutions, such as Marist College. The plan examined the current health of the Hudson from as south as Piermont to as north as Troy, and incorporated input from members of the community.

More of a proposal than a concrete outline of future projects, most of the tasks included in the plan are still in need of economic support, and an organization to do the work, before they can begin. Others, such as the development of waterfront access in the City of Poughkeepsie and the redevelopment of Long Dock Park in Beacon, as well as projects in Kingston and Newburgh, were already underway and funded before the plan was released.

Buy Photo

A group of kayakers set off from Long Dock Park in Beacon on July 30, 2018. (Photo: Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal)

Projects proposed range from reshaping the shoreline and protecting different types of ecosystems to increasing recreational opportunities for residents to make use of the water.

Some goals listed in the plan look more than 30 years into the future. The proposal would not only enhance regional economic potential, Peck said, but also reduce the danger posed to surrounding communities by rising sea levels, increasing frequency of severe storms, and aging infrastructure.

Significant improvements to water quality and a slight increase in the sturgeon population have occurred within the past decade, Peck said, and wastewater treatment infrastructure has played a significant role. But, in some cases those centers are operating at or past capacity. Eight systems still release raw sewage during heavy rains.

"If we do nothing and just go with the status quo, we are going to lose 11 waste water treatment plants within the next 20 to 25 years because they are going to be inundated, they are going to be past their design capacities and not be updated," Peck said. "Keep in mind nearly 100,000 people also get their drinking water from the Hudson River.”

Scenic Hudson Senior Parks Project Manager Joe Kiernan pointed to his organization’s redevelopment of Long Dock Park as “a model of what the comprehensive plan is trying to do.”

Buy Photo

From left, Joe Kiernan, Scenic Hudson's Senior Parks Project Manager, and Andrew Peck, the Nature Conservancy's freshwater project manager for New York discuss the Hudson River restoration plan at Long Dock Park in Beacon on July 30, 2018.(Photo: Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal)

The $16-million project has been ongoing for more than a decade, as land that had formerly been used as a junkyard and for oil storage, has been transformed.

Kiernan noted the sediment under the water needed to be decontaminated in addition to the surface and the shore. Now in its third and final phase, the park features a storage and kayak pavilion, picnic areas, a fishing pier, trails and a reshaped shore. He also said the newly built structures have stood up to brutal storms in recent years without sustaining damage.

“We’re planning for the future, the new reality as it is,” he said, “with larger storm events and using more resilient construction.”

Buy Photo

Scenic Hudson's River Center at Long Dock Park in Beacon on July 30, 2018. (Photo: Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal)

The final phase of the redevelopment, ongoing now, calls for construction of a plaza for dining, a boardwalk with a river overlook deck and facilities for food trucks.

But, most projects in the plan are not so close to being completed.

An interactive map on TheHudsonWeShare.org, a website launched alongside the restoration plan, shows not only the vast number of suggested projects in need of funding, but also shows communities the current condition of local habitats and how they have been impacted.

"It's really important to characterize that the projects that are sort of concepts at this point still have to go through the permitting, vetting, land owner process before they even start to get real," Peck said. "So, there is still legwork. We just want to make sure that people don't see a dot on the map and think the project is going to be finished tomorrow when it's not."

And for that, help is needed. The next step for Partners Restoring the Hudson is recruiting partners in the business world, the private sector and the federal sector to help, work, design and develop projects that will implement the plan into action. Collaboration, the study says, is a key.

The plan acknowledges, also, that some projects and goals contradict each other, and discussions over which projects to prioritize are still needed. For instance, development to increase recreational activity along the shoreline could impact the environmental habitats there. And something like dredging, which is specifically trying to improve the river’s health, could disrupt some habitats.

Buy Photo

Robert and Cathy Waller of Fishkill paddle on the Hudson River near Long Dock Park in Beacon on July 9, 2018. (Photo: Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal)

Dutchess County Planning & Development Commissioner Eoin Wrafter called the plan “a valuable resource of existing conditions and defines various needs to restore the Hudson River. As governments struggle with limited resources, it highlights the benefit of combining environmental enhancement with economic development and the need for collaboration among many partners.”

More than blaming actions of the past or concern for the present, Peck said the plan takes a long-range view of the Hudson Valley’s concerns.

"This isn't about trying to repair and get us back to the 1600s before Henry Hudson came up the river," Peck said. "That's not what we are trying to do here. This is about looking at the realities of the future and preparing to meet them head on and not ducking our heads in the sand."